As Craig Levein attempts to knock Scotland into shape for next month's Euro 2012 qualifiers he will, like most of his predecessors, have to field a Mikado XI – a thing of shreds and patches.

Captain's role: Darren Fletcher is hoping to put a smile back on the Scotland fans' facesPhoto: AP

By Roddy Forsyth

7:25AM BST 11 Aug 2010

Levein's plans were sent awry by grinding bones and twisted ligaments almost from the moment he announced his squad and it will be only some time this morning that he will sit down with his assistants to formulate the starting XI for Wednesday night's friendly with Sweden.

"I haven't got the team, I haven't named the team, I haven't got near that yet," Levein said on Tuesday, prior to the evening training session.

"There are obviously a number of different areas where I have players missing. Although I hadn't named the team, I had seven guys who were going to start; of them, three or four aren't with us. So that throws things up in the air."

The manager did offer one definite starter – Allan McGregor, the Rangers goalkeeper whose gormless involvement with his then club captain, Barry Ferguson, in the Boozegate fiasco at a Scottish training camp in April last year earned him a ban from selection.

The man who put prohibition that in place, Gordon Smith, has departed as chief executive of the Scottish Football Association, as has his reluctant enforcer, George Burley.

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Not that the Tartan Army – 2000 or so of whom will be in the Swedish capital – are obliged to applaud. Asked if the fans who may vent their disapproval of McGregor's return should desist out of deference to the common purpose, Levein supplied a sardonically realistic retort.

"If there are people who want to give him stick, I'm pretty sure the greater cause isn't in the forefront of their minds," said the manager. "He will deal with it. The reason I have brought him back in is because I think he is a really good goalkeeper.

"He made a mistake, held his hands up and said he was wrong. When I asked him to come back, he was delighted. When I went to see him, the first thing he said was that he desperately wanted to come back and play, which was great.

"If he does get a bit of stick – and I hope he doesn't –he is more than capable of dealing with that. The funny thing is that you don't get a lot of time to get talking to them individually.

"He has been fine, bubbly and good in training. He has made some great saves in training and has a smile on his face."

It has been a long time – 12 years to be exact – since the Scottish football public was able to sport a collective grin courtesy of the national side.

The intervening exile from major tournament finals means that Darren Fletcher, who will captain the side on Wednesday, is only three caps away from the 50 appearances which would see him into the Scottish Football Association's Hall of Fame, but without ever having reached the later stages of a European Championship or World Cup, a fact that rankles with the Manchester United midfield player.

"To be honest, 50 caps and the Hall of Fame was my target," said Fletcher. "But I do look at playing in a major tournament because the whole point of playing international football is to reach these competitions.

"Yes, it would be a great personal achievement being in the Hall of Fame at Hampden but getting to a major finals would definitely be better – and it would mean even more caps, too."

For Scotland to accomplish that in a Euro 2012 qualifying group that will include the world champions, Spain, plus the Czech Republic, Levein will have to restore the obdurate nature that saw Alex McLeish's squad push the then World Cup holders, Italy, to the last kick of the Euro 2008 qualifiers.

If that means deep defence and a counter-attacking game, then the manager will make no apologies, although he seeks a more expansive approach where possible.

"As a manager, if you punch above your weight then you have done a good job, but I think when you explain that you are going to be tough and hard to beat, it switches some people off.

"All I'm saying is that when we lose the ball we want to get back behind the ball, back in our formation as quickly as possible, that's what it means.

"From there, I'd like us to play a bit more than we did against the Czech Republic but that comes with confidence, it comes with incremental things rather than all of a sudden everyone flying and being at the top of their game.

"Football hasn't changed from day one. You don't want to lose any goals. To come away with a clean sheet would be a marvellous achievement for us, and you could bet your life that Allan McGregor would have played well, the defenders would have played well – in fact, the whole team would have played well.

"I would stress this is a harder game than the last one against the Czechs. We have lost a lot of players and are playing away from home this time. From that point of view, I expect it to be tough."

The Scottish defence, in the centre of which Stephen McManus will likely partner Christophe Berra, will have to cope with Barcelona's Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who declared that he wants to play in England at some stage.

Apropos of speculation linking him with Chelsea and Manchester City, the forward said: "Throughout the summer I have been linked with a new club every day. I'm very happy there is an interest in me but I have four years more with Barcelona and I will not leave because I am very happy there and I play with the best team in the world.

"But if clubs are interested in me, I take it as a compliment. It means I'm doing a good job. To play in England one day – absolutely. I feel I can give much more and I can still develop.

"You never know what happens in football, in 24 hours a lot of things can change."